Sultan's Birthday - Hanging Out

Hanging out with Zarah waiting for their grandparents to return from the Palace - Jack is starting to show signs of real growth and is putting on the pounds at last !!

Strike !!

Rumbling through the photo's taken while I was away recently, I came across this photo where it was clear that the person taking the photo had won the argument !!

Pink Playdough

Iman and I made playdough this afternoon and it was a success which was a big relief and I had one very happy Iman with her pink playdough. Mothers reading this will understand what I mean when the little ones are excited that Mummy is making playdough for them and it turns out being gooey mess. The recipe was given to me by a teacher in Iman's school in Bangkok *Thankyou Teacher May*. For those who need something to occupy the little ones on a rainy afternoon here's the recipe. I think it's foolproof, easy and will save you $.

Mix the following dry ingredients in a medium pot :
1 cup white flour
1/4 cup salt
2 tbs cream of tartar

Combine the following and add to dry ingredients:
1 cup water
1 tbs veg oil
2 tsp food colouring

- Cook over medium heat and stir. After about 3-5 mins it starts getting thicker and a ball will form in the centre of pot. Turn out the mixture and knead on a lightly floured surface. It should now firm up and feel like playdough. Store in airtight container or plastic bag.

Art Exhibition

JIS art was on show at the Empire last week and on display was one of Iman's paintings so we went to have a look. It was very exciting for Iman seeing her painting in a frame. And she was also excited to see her friends' work. From her kindy class there were 3 paintings chosen including hers. Jack just wanted the little label!

Zahra too had a painting exhibited - her big red fire engine though she maintains her flower painting should have been there instead.

End of Term

It was the end of term for the junior school yesterday and their celebration evening was held last night. All our kids performed beautifully. But my camera didn't. I did get a good picture of Fatin performing in the junior orchestra and one of Iman and Zahra below in the entrance of ICC.

Ayden is 8 months

Ayden is 8 months old today!

And on the subject of birthdays a very happy birthday for tomorrow to Grandad McCarthy. Lots of love from all of us xxx

Our own pirate

The topic was pirates in school last week and the class finished off the week with a pirate themed party. Luckily my niece Zar had a ready made pirate costume complete with props (though she is still unaware of her input to the event - thanks Zar!)

Paris Spotted leaving Brunei !

To Swiss Mama - Paris was spotted heading for the Swiss Hills ...... looking slightly confused re our bikini comments - maybe she hasn't been keeping up with the blog...... Brunei is a very small place.... apologies to everyone else who won't have a clue what this is about.....

Our love to MBK

Donncha is back in Bangkok this week on a conference and I am feeling a tad bit envious. I just came off the phone with him in the middle of the main dinner for the event .....sounded like he was having a terrible time.

It's coming up to three months since we've left Bangkok and first and foremost I must say that we miss the Sriram family - our friends and neighbours from the apartment below. This evening as usual Jack was the last to go to sleep and he always goes through a list of people around him and I always answer that they are asleep to encourage him to do the same. After listing cousins, Aunties & staff (of course in no particular order) he mentioned "ahul" & "oohan" followed by "auntie" which though he has plenty aunties (and who doesn't?) I guessed meant Savita as he said it immediately after the boys. So a big hellooo to the Sriram family. Savita has a girls weekend away trip coming up - hope you have a fantastic time and do plenty of shopping!

Shopping....I do miss MBK.....my tshirt lady.....children's clothes lady...... or just endless walking around tourist souvenirs (but never to buy....go somewhere else for that). A morning walk around MBK was always followed by lunch usually at the food court. Contrary to what many Bruneians think Halal food is not difficult to come by in Bangkok as the city has a sizeable Muslim population. The main MBK foodcourt has 3 Muslim stalls and another 2 not serving pork. My favorites were the seafood noodles, vegetarian stalls and of course the somtam. And a meal there was always followed by a tall glass icecream in Swensens ... all guilt free when I was pregnant..... guess that's all what I'm trying to walk off today!

The Simple Life.....

Neither Donncha or I have green fingers so we are extremely lucky to have a gardener to prop up our mangoes as they get bigger and heavier. These are just outside our kitchen door but it took someone else to tell us that they were there!

Additional picture

I quite like this picture thus posting it myself!

A Royal Occasion

We had a Royal Wedding last weekend with the Sultan's daughter getting married. We went along to one of the events .... the ceromony follows traditional Malay customs along with Royal protocol which is always interesting to watch. The clothes you wear are specific and for women, the way you wear your cloth indicates your level in the royal court......... The 'Army' accompanies the princess into the hall .......

Man on a mission - right - I've queued and collected our presents so it's time to eat ...are you coming?

Despite being lowly in the pecking order, we did manage to hang around afterwards and caught a close up of the new Royal Couple returning from their tour of Bandar - it's always amazing to get close up - in this case, all the state dignaturies were waiting to greet the couple and the Royal Family after their state procession through town.....

Our Ballet Queen

Iman is realy starting to enjoy Ballet and has even taken to coaching Jack ...... he does try bless him but as Ayden starts to move about, the boys will start to pay more attention to playing ball!

Why do you want to live in Brunei?

It's the most common question we are asked when we meet people who hear that we live in Brunei - sometimes it's hard to answer as people are looking for the obvious benefits but here are some of the real benefits of living in our tropical paradise....This is the family version of sailing at the moment - as time goes on, we hope to advance a little

An Encounter with Bobby Chin

During a recent trip to Hanoi, a group of us managed to fit in a dinner at a restaurant owned and run by a celebrity chef, Bobby Chin, who you may know from Travel and Living - Cafe Asia. Well, he's as full of life and chatter as he comes across on his program but the restaurant itself is well worth a visit - don't ask me where in Hanoi it is as we were entertaining a potential client and were driven to and from the restaurant ....... excellent place to hang out.....
'What do you mean you don't have a bottle of the nice Australian Fruit Juice' we ordered - I'll do you a deal, we'll order a different 'Fruit Juice' if you have your photo taken with the group ! Deal done but not too sure about the software deal we were trying to win!

Morning out with Mama

My Mum and I went to a beauty shop yesterday morning and brought Jack along with us. He badly needed a haircut but is never too keen on one unless held down. The girl in the shop did bribe him with a sweet but then proceeded to take her time leaving Jack with only half a haircut before he had enough. I myself had my eyebrows and facial hair threaded *ouch*. It's a decent place that my Mum and I recently came across and it was very cheap. Together with a trim for my Mum it all came to B$20 (B$2 was for Jack - 1 euro)! I did leave a generous tip but think in Europe the total would be just the tip - we do love Brunei.

Back to School

I was just starting to enjoy my lie-ins - once we even managed to stay in bed till 7:30!! We got to school just in time today which was a great achievement considering I had to make Iman's lunch and tie up her hair and in between having breakfast with Jack on my lap.

Only 5 days before Donncha get's home!!

Ballet Saturdays

Saturday mornings are always a rush for us to get Iman to ballet on time. This morning we started with our routine of Jack giving me permission to open the curtains comanding to "tutup tabir" which in fact is actually to draw the curtains followed by "tutu bear" that is milk to our children (don't even ask it's a long story). It's then a battle to get Iman into the bath and this morning she was doing the usual not wanting to go in then not wanting to come out. Her hair then had to be tied up and as our Sitty has gone back to Zamboanga City for a month's holiday (and she's only been gone 3 days!!!) I had to send her next door to Jasmine's house to get her hair tied up neatly in a bun. We were late for ballet yet again but had enough time to take the pic in the carpark - she wouldn't let me do it in the studio.

Donncha is now back in Singapore and is spending time with our friends Fred and Judy from Bangkok on their boat. They kindly bought Ayden his sailor romper which we wore yesterday. Thanks Fred and Judy and we hope to all see you again soon.

April/May photos

These are photos that I have been meaning to post for a while. You all have to bear with me...one of these days I will get up to date.

Our two superheroes!

And another not too far behind!


"Deck" & "Den"


Donncha looking very worried at the number of candles on his cake but not too worry he had a lot of volunteers to help him blow them out.

A New City - Hanoi

Greetings from Hanoi - a new city for the McCarthy suitcases ...... everything priced in USD for the ease of travellers ..........

Walk for AIDs Awareness

"Mama of 4" with one of her four who required wheels having put his foot through a glass cabinet
Iman looking great and I have all the signs of having to wake at 6am and get everyone to Bandar for a 7am 4km walk

Some images of the walk including one of the McCarthy wheelers......

* With thanks and apologies to the Bloggers of Brunei for making the photos of the event online and public

It's a sunny day!!!

After months of saying I'll get round to it I have eventually figured out how to get here.

Just for starters here's a picture of Iman and Ayden looking good in Barbie sunglasses. Ayden will be 7 months in two days and is now able to crawl on his belly.

Brunei - BADS

We joined close friends of our's last night at the latest BADS event (Brunei Amateur Dramatics) - Comedy evening - excellent entertainment not easily found in Brunei (everyone took abuse from Australians, Irish, Catholics, Men and in particular one poor husband who had to listen to his wife complain about his habit of watching her copies of Lost and then telling her what happens......)

Everyone now on the road to recovery but it's a slow process - Iman has decided that she is cured and therefore allowed herself a swim this afternoon.

Iman joins the club

Iman had to come home from school not feeling well so it's just myself and Ayden without tablets and medicine ........ 9.05 flight tomorrow morning back to Brunei ...

2 Down - 3 to Go

Brunei has been experiencing a bout of 'flu' with almost every family coming down with something - Jack was first to fall and didn't eat for 24 hours - he became quiet and just wanted hugs - as he recovered (by eating everything in sight), Maria has taken to bed suffering .......

Probably not the best time for me to head off to Singapore for a couple of nights

KB Baby !!!

Love it - for all of us divided on the KB - Bandar divide - almost like the Dublin / Cork argument but taken to a new height by a talented but obviously bored expat !

Our Princess !!

Iman was a real hero during our recent move from Bangkok to Brunei - she left the loving environment of Ladybird and all her friends on a Friday, arrived back in Brunei on Sunday and went straight to JIS on Monday morning without a whimper......

First morning back at JIS - no longer taking a taxi to school !!

Face painting at the Empire - Iman with her 'mermaid' face - she wouldn't wash her face for two days to try to keep it .......

Jack being Jack !!

Some images of Jack being a monkey and an adorable little boy - he's still not growing much even though he gets through his food

Jack with P'Bank from Ladybird - he missed her once she left school to begin her new life in the UK with Kevin .......

Swimming in Ice - Bangkok Style

Even though BKK enjoys some great hot weather, unfortunately, the swimming pools in apartment complexes are invariably freezing!! However, try tell that to the kids.

Iman is becoming very confident in the pool which is both worrying and great all at the same time. Yesterday, in Brunei, she and her cousin were caught jumping into the pool without anyone being around - needless to say they have now understood the error of their ways.....

Jack is making progress with his armbands in tow - he enjoys jumping from the sides and has got used to wearing his hat in Brunei.

Iman, Jack, Rosie and Rahul hanging out in the cold water with Jack looking like he's had enough ........

Boats, Trains and Buddhas (Big ones.......)

Checking out a Thai Train Station - Hua Lampong while beginning our first and only 'tourist' day in Bangkok -

Iman looking all hot and sweaty after a morning checking out the Big Buddha while we abondon plans to get a water taxi due to the crowds

The Big Buddha - amazing place - pity about the hoards and hoards of tourists......

Catch Up on Photos from Bangkok ........

The 'Jungle Gym' will never be able to beat Seacon Square in Bangkok - anyone going to BKK with kids and need an afternoon indoors, then Seacon Square is a hit - huge amusement arcade above a shopping centre - Iman and Jack suka !!

It's only a matter of time before these 'Group Photos' become a thing of the past with one or other refusing, but for the moment, they enjoy it - Iman looking every bit the 'Big Sister'

Brunei - BBC View

Here we go - for those of you that haven't been to Brunei and would like to see what it's like - this is the BBC Holiday program which recently aired giving a view of Brunei.

Happy Viewing

Jack is 2 !!

Today, Jack has crossed another milestone celebrating his second birthday. He understands that the focus of today appears to be him and has been signing 'Birthday, Birthday to you' with Iman correcting all by saying that it should be 'Happy Birthday to you !!'.

We are having dinner and cake this evening after a swim.

Apologies for not updating photos as we have been busy managing the process of moving from Bangkok back to Brunei. All has gone well - Iman settled immediately into her new school (www.jis.edu.bn) and she hasn't looked back. Jack is enjoying the freedom of moving around and all their cousins are happy to have them around.

Donncha has been traveling forward and backwards to Singapore, spending enough time there to buy presents but still getting back to Brunei quickly.

We hope to get organised in the coming weeks and will them be updating photos again on a regular basis